Volcom Fiji Pro: Day 1 Highlights

After a few lay days, the 2013 Volcom Fiji Pro (stop #4 on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour) kicked off in absolutely flawless six-foot surf at Cloudbreak. With nary a breath of wind and sunny skies, it looked like a Fijian postcard out there.

The day began with the opening round of the Volcom VQS World Champs where a select crew of the world’s best juniors took on Cloudbreak. The groms took some lumps but for the most part fared pretty well against the shallow reef and pounding barrels. Standouts included Peru’s Miguel Tudela, Australia’s Jordan Lawler, France’s Tom Cloarec, and Californian Taylor Clark.

With the waves starting to pump, the big boys of the World Tour pulled rank and got into their jerseys. I was on a boat out to Cloudbreak and jokingly asked if Sebastian “Seabass” Zietz if he needed a caddy. “Yeah bra, you’re on it!” said the frothing rookie from Kauai. So there I was, front and center at the Volcom Fiji Pro secretly hoping that Seabass would break his board and I would spring into action and save the day.

It didn’t happen and ‘Bass ended up in second to fellow Hawaiian Fred Patacchia. I told him he could blame his lousy board caddy.

After watching a few more heats aboard the Bel’Mare (a huge yacht that serves as contest headquarters while the event is on at Cloudbreak), it was back to Tavarua for some shade and a cold one at the bar while watching the live feed. Tough gig, right?

While sponsor wildcard Mitch Coleborn got a 10 and injury replacement surfer Heitor Alves crushed his heat, the big news of day 1 was the two surfers that were missing in action; Kelly Slater and Joel Parkinson. Apparently Kelly hung back in Florida awaiting the birth of his niece or nephew and will be here late tonight. Last report had him shopping in Santa Monica… classic Slater.

As for Parko, the current World Champ and fishing fanatic took off on a jaunt to a place called “Jurassic Park” where the fish are rumored to be triple the size of anything around the local waters. The spot is a days boat ride away and there was no way to contact Parko and alert him to the fact that the contest was on. “I’ll definitely pull back a bit on the fishing during events,” said Parko after making it back to civilization. “I definitely won’t be fishing tomorrow morning! The upside I suppose is that I get to surf an extra heat and the forecast for the rest of the event is looking insane,” he added. Both of the surfers will be regulated to round two where if they lose, they’re out of the event.

CLOUDBREAK, Tavarua/Fiji (Tuesday, June 4, 2013) – Opening day of the Volcom Fiji Pro, stop No. 4 of 10 on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), kicked off in firing four-to-six foot (2 – 2.5 metre) barrels at Cloudbreak today, completing the opening 10 heats of the non-elimination Round 1. The first day of competition saw several upsets unfold, as a slew of top seeds went down to the underdogs.

Mitch Coleborn (AUS), 26, returning Volcom Fiji Pro wildcard and winner of the recent ASP Prime event in Brazil, was deadly in the Cloudbreak lineup, earning the first perfect 10 point ride of competition. Coleborn locked into a flawless wave seconds after the start of his heat and drove through two heaving barrel sections to earn the score. The Sunshine-coaster would back up the ride with an excellent 9.33, taking the day’s high heat total of 19.33 out of 20.

“I’m feeling in good rhythm and trying to keep momentum going after my win last week in Brazil,” Coleborn said. “My first wave was a 10 and I don’t know what to say, I’m stoked. Hopefully I can keep it going in Round 3.” Coleborn, who topped 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 41, in Round 1 at Cloudbreak last year, recreated the same magic today, besting ASP World No. 1 Adriano de Souza (BRA), 26, and Alejo Muniz (BRA), 23, to make his way to Round 3.

“I’m so thankful to Volcom for the wildcard,” Coleborn said. “This is the most amazing event all year. The waves are pumping. To get the wildcard again, I’m just so stoked. With priority in Round 1 now, it makes for more of a relaxing three-man heat. I was lucky with the first wave and that it was a 10. There wasn’t much jockeying. I was pretty confident after that and there wasn’t much hassling, so I was lucky.”

Heitor Alves (BRA), 31, former ASP WCT competitor and last-minute alternate in the Volcom Fiji Pro, took advantage of both his entry in to the event and the absence of reigning ASP World Champion Joel Parkinson (AUS), 32, in his Round 1 heat. Alves drove through two deep lefthand barrels, notching a near-perfect 9.80 and 8.83 for his efforts to advance to Round 3 over fellow goofy-footer Matt Wilkinson (AUS), 24.

“I’m so happy because I was in Brazil and got the invite just before the event, so it’s a dream for me,” Alves said. “I was just in Brazil and now I’ve just won a heat against Wilko (Matt Wilkinson). It was a hard heat, but I’m happy. I really need a result and hopefully I can do it here. I just got lucky. I was waiting for the best waves and God gave them to me. Luckily I made my heat.”

“This is a great event to come back to,” Patacchia said. “I love coming to Tavarua and I’ve been coming here since I was about 15 years old. My ankle is feeling decent. I’ve got it wrapped and braced and was looking for barrels out there because my turns aren’t really where I want them to be right now. It’s looking like it’s going to be about barrels and that’s what I’m looking for. We didn’t have a whole lot of swell before the event, so I didn’t get much practice, but I’m stoked to get the win.”

Damien Hobgood (USA), 33, two time winner in Fiji (2004, 2006), was deadly in the technical barrels at Cloudbreak today, beating two-time ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS), 31, and wildcard Alex Grey (USA), 26, in a high-scoring Round 1 affair. “Mick’s a great competitor and I knew it was going to be tough,” Hobgood said. “I was nervous before heat and just got it rolling right at the start. Towards the end, I creased my board, but I knew I couldn’t leave Mick in the lineup with priority. I saw him get the 6 and knew I couldn’t give him a good wave. I knew I’d have to make him earn it.”

Kai Otton (AUS), 33, current ASP No. 12, contributed to the day’s goofy-footed dominance, besting 2012 Volcom Fiji Pro runner-up Gabriel Medina (BRA), 19, and dangerous Hawaiian Dusty Payne (HAW), 24, compliments of two deep forehand barrels. “I haven’t had many trips here so I came early with Taj (Burrow) and got the best Cloudbreak I’ve ever had,” Otton said. “I was on such a high and then all week I had the worst free-surfs. I haven’t been able to get a wave and I got pounded really bad on one wave, but then it all came together in that heat. It’s been really fun here. It’s a great place and the hospitality is amazing.”

Joel Parkinson (AUS), 32, reigning ASP World Champion and current ASP WCT No. 8, was absent from today’s Round 1 of competition, the result of an ill-advised decision to embark on a fishing expedition in the early hours of the morning before the call was made. “I was 100% convinced last night that the contest would be off today so we went fishing early this morning,” Parkinson said. “There is so much good surf coming in the contest window that I thought there was no way we’d be surfing so we grabbed the fishing rods and took off down the coast in the boat. But the swell filled in a little early and the conditions at Cloudbreak were so good they had no choice but to run. There’s no way you walk away from waves that good. I was out of phone range and by the time the contest was called on I was too far away to make it back because I was in the third heat of the morning.”

Parkinson will surf against Dusty Payne (HAW), 24, in Round 2 of competition. “I was pretty bummed to miss the heat, but I was even more bummed that I missed out on waves like that,” Parkinson said. “That was pretty perfect Cloudbreak. There were some absolute bombs out there and the boys got tubed out of their brains all day. But I guess you’ve got to be philosophical about it. You’re never too old to learn a lesson and I’ll definitely pull back a bit on the fishing during events. I definitely won’t be fishing tomorrow morning! The upside I suppose is that I get to surf an extra heat and the forecast for the rest of the event is looking insane.”

Kelly Slater (USA), 41, 11-time ASP World Champion and current ASP WCT No. 4, was another notable absentee from Round 1 today. Slater opted to remain in Florida for the birth of his nephew, but is en route to arrive before Round 2 of competition. When competition resumes, up first will be Jeremy Flores (FRA), 25, Nat Young (USA), 21, and Kolohe Andino (USA), 19, in Heat 11 of Round 1.

Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 7am local time to assess conditions for a possible 8am start to Volcom Fiji Pro Round 2. The Volcom Fiji Pro holds a waiting period from June 4-14 and is webcast LIVE via www.volcomfijipro.com